To Best Him
by Les 3 Amies
Summary: Set during Tom Riddle's 7th year at Hogwarts, in which he meets a witch with an interesting connection. Silly little witches have no right to try to manipulate the great Tom Riddle. TMR&OC, a near-romance. Written by Israe.
1. Chapter One

Author's note: This story is rated 'T' currently. If I need to go up to an 'M' in a future chapter I promise to warn you. I've rated it 'T' in order not to alienate readers (and because I'm not sure what I'd do to make it 'M'), but I don't want to limit my options.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone original to the Harry Potter universe.

**To Best Him**

_A Harry Potter Fanfiction by 'Israe'_

Under the pale light of the second Sunday morning of the school year, the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry buzzed with chatter. Students, already formed into tight cliques, cluttered the house tables. Between these clumps of bickering friends were scattered a few individuals who were either too socially inept or too conceited to join in with the crowds of other students. Tom Riddle, Head Boy and all-around perfect student, sat among these loners at the Slytherin table. The reason why he was sitting by himself was puzzling to many. He wasn't like the awkward students in any capacity – he had a large circle of friends of which he was the undisputed leader. These friends were at that moment sitting far down the table, eating their breakfast and talking quietly. In addition, although Tom Riddle was known to be rather intimidating, no one would have dared to call him conceited. He was, in fact, perfectly polite to everyone in the school – whether they were anxious first-years he dealt with in the course of his duties as Head Boy, or his own seventh-year peers. This courtesy in turn made the general student body, as well as the faculty and staff, respect him. The fact that he was in good standing with the entire student body yet he still sat alone was what confused the other students. More than one of the clusters of the students dotted across the tables had mentioned this in hushed voices. Eyes darted in his direction from all across the room then turned away quickly. Through all of this, he didn't look up from a spot on the tablecloth at which he was staring.

At the end of the same table sat a small group of girls who were, at that moment, leaning over their toast and eggs to stare at the expressionless face of the Head Boy. They were a fairly uniform bunch. Each was wearing the standard female Hogwarts uniform, with shirtsleeves rolled up neatly and buttoned, and their hair was pinned back reflecting the emerging style of the day. What was unique about this group of girls, though, was the red lipstick that each wore, carefully applied that morning with a sealing charm known only to them to prevent it from rubbing off on glasses when they daintily took drinks from their tea, pinkies extended in an exaggerated show of femininity. These girls had been unofficially dubbed the "Reds" by other all-female cliques of the school, though the group itself refused to acknowledge the name. The leader of this group was a girl named Scarlet Doyle, which didn't help them shake the nickname. She was a statuesque beauty with shining black locks; piercing, pale blue eyes and a curved smile that could make any Hogwarts boy or girl go weak at the knees. Her fortunate right-hand woman, Lucille "Lucy" Greenwall, who was cursed with a rather unfortunate name (in her opinion), stood out from the group only by the fact that she refused to wear the signature red lipstick, claiming that it made her look "like a prostitute". Only her status as the long time best friend of Scarlet Doyle kept her in the Reds, which as far as cliques went was exceptionally exclusive. She was neither statuesque nor an exceptional beauty, with little to recommend her other than her occasionally narrow-eyed stare that could be optimistically called 'smoldering'. She was displaying it then at breakfast, eyeing the bacon distastefully while prodding at it with her fork. The other girls were leaning toward each other and gossiping, eyes flickering over to where Tom Riddle was still seated.

"All I'm saying," Thelma Ryerson started, "is that it's not like he doesn't have any friends. It's not like he _has_ to be sitting over there alone. I mean, he must be bored."

"Maybe he likes it that way," Mina Blanche replied. "It sure beats hanging around with some of the guys he normally is around. I mean, have you seen them?"

"Hey," Mina's sister Etta cut in, "why don't you go over there and ask him to join us? A bunch of girls like us, I'm sure he'd appreciate the invitation, don't you?" She winked suggestively. Thelma giggled and Mina rolled her eyes. Lucy, who was half-listening, was tempted to do the same. It was a really good thing Riddle couldn't hear them right now, the twits. She wasn't sure why she hung out with this group. It was probably all for Scarlet's sake, and it wasn't as though she had many other people to hang out with. Scarlet had been her best friend since they had met on the Hogwarts express at the beginning of their first year. She just hadn't counted on Scarlet collecting Slytherin's finest birdbrains over the years. Scarlet herself was smart enough, and that's why she, like Lucy, pretended to be paying more attention to her breakfast than to the morning's gossip.

Lucy glanced over at her friend, who was daintily sipping from her own teacup rather than using one from the school's set. Scarlet's eyes were lowered, but it was obvious to Lucy that she, too, was listening in on the three other girls' conversation. If she was interested, it didn't show on her face, and she appeared more preoccupied with a spot on the tablecloth where someone had dripped a bit of juice. However, her blue eyes were blank, which betrayed the true source of her attention. She was listening just as attentively as Lucy, waiting for the right moment to take charge of the conversation. When it came, she slowly set her tea cup on the tablecloth so as not to spill and cut Etta off in the middle of one of her jibes. The group immediately fell silent, deferring to their leader.

"Personally," Scarlet began, "I don't think he looks lonely at all. Perhaps he just wanted to get away from his 'friends'." She changed her tone on the word 'friends', which, instead of emphasizing the point, seemed to make her meaning even less clear. "I can relate. I know I like to be alone sometimes; idle chatter can become tiresome, and I often like to take time to myself to think." This reply was just like her. She hadn't directly insulted anyone sitting at the table, but her message was obvious, and the other girls nodded in agreement, wisely ignoring the fact that they had been snubbed. Scarlet had just given her opinion, and it was in everyone's best interests if they accepted it as the truth behind his motivations and moved on. The group was silent for a few seconds then Scarlet chuckled into her hand and turned to Lucy who was facing the table but had her eyes turned toward her friend. The tension at the table dissipated slightly at Scarlet's laugh, but still no one dared to speak. "Besides," Scarlet added, "he'd probably be too nervous to come over here. We all know that he's madly in love with Lucy." The other three girls giggled and eyed Lucy, who lowered her head and sighed.

"Seriously, Scar?" Lucy glanced quickly over at Riddle, who at that moment looked up toward something on the opposite side of the room, before returning his gaze to the table. This sent the girls into a fresh batch of giggles.

"See?" Scarlet prompted. "He knew you were looking. It's fate." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and the other three giggled again. Lucy shot her a glance.

"Of course it is," Lucy replied, then picked up a piece of toast and shoved a large bite in her mouth to avoid having to argue. She chewed slowly while Scarlet stared at her with a look of thinly veiled disgust.

"Must you take enormous bites of everything? You could at least attempt to be civilized," she scolded Lucy. Thelma, Mina and Etta, growing bored at the lapse in conversation, began gossiping about the new way that Emmy Newman had started doing her hair. Riddle was temporarily forgotten, and Lucy was grateful. She swallowed her piece of toast and took another, smaller one. Scarlet grinned. "You know, I'm certain that the boys would like you much more if you attempted to be a bit more feminine. You're quite pretty enough; you just need to learn how to act more ladylike."

Lucy swallowed her second piece of toast. "I'm flattered, really. Scarlet Doyle, the handsomest girl at Hogwarts, is calling me almost attractive. If only it were true." She laid a hand against her cheek dramatically and cracked a smile. The corners of Scarlet's mouth turned down in what was as close to a frown as she ever gave.

"Really, I don't see the problem that you see. You're - what do they call it – "doe-eyed?" You look quite innocent; that's appealing." She flipped her hair over her shoulder again and leaned against her hand. Lucy just snorted and looked away for a brief moment.

"Thanks, Scarlet. That's exactly how I was trying to look," she said sarcastically. Scarlet pursed her lips and leaned back.

"Well, either way you look at it, you're doe-eyed and that's cute, I think."

"Yeah?"

" 'Yeah.' "

Lucy turned back to face the table. "Well, thank you, I suppose. Unfortunately, my innocent good looks haven't been too useful so far." While Scarlet had a new boy what seemed to be every month or so since the third year, Lucy had mainly kept to herself. Scarlet's boyfriends hardly made her want to go out and find a beau of her own – they were generally handsome but vapid boys, a sort of male equivalent to the other three girls of the group. They were drawn to Scarlet's good-looks and dominant personality like moths to a flame. She liked to rule over them, and they liked being ruled over.

The pair were silent for a moment, listening to the chatter of the three others then Scarlet sat up straight and snapped her fingers. "I have an idea."

"Hmm?" Lucy replied absentmindedly. "What's the brilliant plan this time?"

"No brilliant plan, I'm afraid. Just an idea – a bet, maybe," Scarlet said. Lucy looked up at her and raised an eyebrow.

"What were you thinking?" she asked with only a hint of suspicion. Scarlet's bets were always interesting. Last month she had bet Etta that she couldn't lay a kiss on Alfred May, the Gryffindor seeker, before the end of the week. Etta had ended up winning that bet, but only after tripping Alfred in the hallway and yanking him off the ground to lock lips with him. That was the kind of bet Scarlet made: the kind where she'd win either way. She'd either win the bet, or she'd 'lose' but someone would still be humiliated. It was one of the ways she manipulated people without them knowing. Lucy had sworn that she'd never fall for it. "I don't have to kiss any Gryffindors, do I?" she quipped. "You know I have morals. And standards, for that matter."

Scarlet shook her hair. "No, no, I have something far more ambitious in mind."

Lucy was beginning to get much more suspicious. "And what could that be?" she asked. Scarlet looked down the table and Lucy followed her gaze to where it landed on Hogwarts' Head Boy, Tom Riddle. Both of their stares rested on him for a moment before Lucy pulled away and said "No. I don't know what exactly you're thinking of, but the answer is no."

Scarlet pouted. "How can the answer be 'no' if you don't even know what I'm asking?"

"You're right; I don't know exactly what you're asking, but I'm sure it won't end well for me."

At this Scarlet scowled for a moment, then her expression changed completely and she gave her friend a sweet smile. "You want to be more confident, don't you, Lucy? Well, I propose a little bet, and it may help you."

"Help me how, exactly?"

"Well," Scarlet stalled, stretching her words, "I bet that you, my adorable friend, with my help, will be able to snag the handsome Head Boy." As soon as she said this, Lucy knew that it was a good thing that there was no food in her mouth; she'd have choked on it. She quickly ran some possible outcomes of taking this bet through her mind. None of them looked too terrible – other than the possibility of making a complete fool of herself but really, who would notice? Nonetheless -

"I refuse. I'm still not certain what you're thinking, but now I _know_ that it won't end well for me."

Scarlet resumed pouting. "Don't be such a spoilsport. Really, this could do wonders for your image, and as I've told you, I'd be helping you. He wouldn't stand a chance against you, darling, with me behind you."

"I think you're giving yourself too much credit," Lucy replied. "Besides, what do you stand to gain from this?"

"The right to gloat; the knowledge that I've helped my best girlfriend." She really meant it. That was one of the best things about Scarlet Doyle. While she may have seemed to be a queen bitch to the rest of the school, she was fiercely loyal to her own friends and family. She may have pulled a few harmless pranks at their expense, but she would never toy with one of their lives in a lasting way. Lucy knew this, and it was the only reason she finally gave in, however reluctantly.

"Fine," she sighed, "but please promise me that I won't have to do anything too awful? I honestly think you'd have more luck at this than I will. I haven't a chance of winning this bet for you, but I'll make an effort for your sake. Even though, really, I'll be working to make _myself_ lose the bet." She looked over at the other three girls to make certain that they hadn't been listening in. They were completely oblivious, having moved on to the topic of the new Ravenclaw quidditch captain.

Scarlet stuck out her hand. "Shake on it," she said simply. It was the way they'd make the bet official. Lucy took her hand, wondering what she was getting herself into, and they shook. Scarlet's smile reappeared. "Wonderful. This will be such fun."

A feeling of dread settled over Lucy despite the cheery mood of the Great Hall. She swallowed with some difficulty. "So, what do we do first?"

Review and I promise I'll update faster! I've already got the next few chapters written.


	2. Chapter Two

_Thank you to my reviewers! Feel free to ask questions in reviews – in fact, it's encouraged. Questions let me know what I need to include in future chapters._

Disclaimer: I don't own JKR's characters or world.

**Chapter Two**

A week passed without event. Scarlet had neglected to set any sort of time limit on the bet, and Lucy was taking full advantage of this fact by procrastinating as long as possible. School had kept her busy, and if this kept up she hoped that Scarlet would just forget about the whole thing. Finally though, one day as Lucy was sitting sideways in a chair in the Slytherin common room studying the Potions textbook, Scarlet came in from the doorway to the girls' dormitory. Seeing Lucy lazing in the chair, she walked over and smacked the side of the book to shut it. Lucy, surprised, stared up at her friend in confusion.

"I was reading that," she said stupidly. Scarlet raised an eyebrow.

"I'm aware," she snapped. "In case you've forgotten, we have a bet going."

"As a matter of fact, I haven't forgotten," Lucy snapped back. "I just haven't thought of anything to do about it. Besides, you've said that you'll help, and you've yet to." She was annoyed at the intrusion on her studying. "If you think of any ideas, let me know, but I need to get back to studying or I'm going to fail Potions and I'd rather not repeat the year. It's been bad enough the first time through. If you want to win this bet for yourself – and might I remind you again that I'd be the one losing, which is hardly motivation – you think of something."

After a moment's silence, Lucy buried her face once again in the thick book. She was another paragraph and a half in when Scarlet uttered a cry and snapped her fingers. Lucy jumped slightly at the sudden noise and closed her book slowly, turning to look at her friend.

"Yes?" she asked impatiently. Scarlet was grinning and tapping her left foot, and as Lucy looked up she crossed her arms.

"I've had an idea."

"Oh?" Lucy considered for a moment returning to her book, but decided against it. It wasn't wise to ignore Scarlet when she was in a mood like this; she tended to shed her dignified façade in favor of a tantrum worthy of a 5-year-old when she was ignored.

"You're not the brightest student in our class, are you?" Scarlet began. Lucy immediately frowned and laid the book down on her stomach. She already didn't like where this was going, although she was used to Scarlet's unintentional insults by now.

"When you put it that way, I suppose not," she replied, disgruntled. "I'm hardly the stupidest, though. I'm doing quite well in Charms, I'll have you know, and I'm only really failing potions."

Scarlet waved at her dismissively. "No, no, I mean, we could use this. You need to talk to him first, right? It's no secret that he's the most brilliant student at the school. Wouldn't having him tutor you be the perfect way to talk to him?"

"If by 'perfect' you mean 'most humiliating,' then yes, it's perfect."

"How is that humiliating? Men already think that they're much smarter than we are. It's not as though he'll be expecting you to be an absolute genius. And if it bothers you that much, you can have him tutor you in Charms. He'll have no idea that it's your best subject, and so long as you don't do everything perfectly he may think you're just a bit behind in the one subject, instead of dragging behind in your other classes. He'll never know."

Lucy thought for a moment. It wasn't the worst plan they could've come up with. As long as she stuck to her best subject then he wouldn't find out about her abysmal marks in anything else. He wouldn't think her a complete fool. There was still the matter of approaching him, though.

"…fine," she said after a few moments of silence. "I'll do it. Though I still don't know _why_ I'm trying to lose a bet."

The next morning, instead of joining her friends at their usual spot at the Slytherin table, Lucy was standing in the doorway of the Great Hall for a moment, steeling herself for what she had to do. Tom Riddle was thankfully still sitting by himself. It seemed to have become his pattern over the past few weeks, although she couldn't imagine why. All the same, she wasn't about to question her good luck. For a few moments she just stood there, ignoring the annoyed looks she got from people coming through the doorway.

As she stood, dread built up in the pit of her stomach. She shook her head a few times, to the bewilderment of the people walking in, then walked in Riddle's direction before she had time to think about it any longer.

He didn't seem to notice as she sat down next to him, carefully sweeping her long skirt beneath her knees in what she hoped was a feminine way. She hesitated for a moment before blurting out "Good morning." After a moment during which she considered bolting before he had the chance to look, Riddle turned toward her and smiled.

"Good morning. Do you need help with something, Miss…" he was polite, though he obviously didn't know who she was. She wasn't surprised; she doubted that he knew much of the student body by name. All the same, she was in many of the same classes as him…

"Oh, I'm Lucille. I mean, Lucy. No one calls me Lucille – it's a horrible name," she stammered. This didn't seem so difficult back in the common room when she and Scarlet had discussed it. '_Just go up, introduce yourself, and ask him. Flatter him a little bit, if necessary. Men love to have their egos stroked,_' Scarlet had said with a smirk, twirling a strand of her shining hair around her finger flirtatiously. Lucy found herself tempted to try the same move now, but she held her hands on her lap.

"Tom," he said, simply. She nodded.

"Yeah," she said breathlessly. "I know." Her voice sounded stupid, even to her own ears, and she blinked a few times. "My friend recommended you as a tutor; she said that you're really brilliant, and I'm afraid I'm falling rather far behind in Charms." She giggled nervously, and winced internally at the high-pitched noise. He didn't respond for a moment. Lucy pushed her fingernails into the palms of her hands further as the seconds passed.

"I don't usually tutor," he said finally. His tone was careful. "Are you having trouble with that class?"

"Oh, yes," she replied. "I'm really afraid that I'm going to fail. I really can't afford to, though. My parents really want me to be a healer, and you have to do well in just about everything to become a healer." She was only half lying. Her parents didn't _really_ want her to become a healer. They didn't care what she ended up being, as they would have money either way. She wanted to become a healer in order to support herself. Unfortunately, she wasn't going to succeed without some very hard work this year. This was exactly why she was annoyed with Scarlet for making up this time-consuming bet.

Riddle nodded. "I suppose I could give it a try. I can't promise you anything, though, as I've said, I don't tutor."

"Oh, good!" Lucy exclaimed with a bit more enthusiasm than she felt. "Would you like to meet in the library sometime to…give it a try? I'm certain it'll be very helpful; I'm such a dunce in that class." Now she was insulting herself, this wasn't a good sign. She needed to get out of here fast, before she did any more damage. She looked over his shoulder and saw Scarlet, several yards away, watching like a hawk.

"How's Wednesday at 7?" Riddle asked, looking briefly over his shoulder in the direction Lucy had been looking. Scarlet turned back toward her breakfast as soon as his head turned, then looked back up as he looked back at Lucy, who held in a laugh at this display.

She bit her lip and nodded. "Wednesday at 7 sounds wonderful." Scarlet was staring right at the back of Riddle's head, but he didn't appear to notice.

"I'll see you then," he said. "If you'll excuse me." He stood up, and she followed him with her eyes. Goodness, he was tall, at least from her position on the bench. After he had walked away she looked back at Scarlet, who was grinning at her. Her friend waved. Lucy put her head down on the plate in front of her, feeling the cold porcelain against her face. If she had been the type of person prone to blushing, her face would've been the color of the Gryffindors' robes. She was at this moment thankful that she wasn't.

Pulling her head off the tableware before anyone could see her, she grabbed her bag from beside the bench and hightailed it over to Scarlet. When she sat down heavily next to her best friend, the other three girls turned in unison to give her a confused look. Lucy ignored them and started piling food onto her plate, only to have some of it taken off again by Scarlet.

"You've just gotten yourself a date with Tom Riddle," her friend explained. "We can't have you getting fat. It's time you started eating a normal-sized amount." Lucy scowled at her.

"I haven't gained weight from eating this much before; I don't see how I would start now. Besides, I can't survive on the amount that you eat, I doubt a mouse could."

Scarlet merely smiled in a way that Lucy found infuriating. "You can thank me later," she said. "It's time you started watching your figure. This much grease (she gestured to the bacon) isn't good for anyone."

Lucy grumbled and reached for another piece of sausage off the main plate, but Scarlet slapped her hand away. Glowering, Lucy was forced to make do with two pieces of unbuttered toast, as Scarlet had slapped her hand away when she reached for the butter, as well. Scarlet should've respected the ordeal that she had just gone through and allowed her to at least eat a decent meal. After all, how much energy had she lost fidgeting during that conversation? Two pieces of bread would hardly compensate.

Understandably, by the end of the day Lucy was in a foul mood. Lunch had gone much the same way, with Scarlet sneaking food off her plate when she wasn't looking, and by dinner Lucy's stomach was hollow with hunger. She even considered sitting somewhere far away from her usual group, but decided against it when she saw what the rest of the Slytherin table had to offer. As she had dreaded, Scarlet kept any real amount of food from making it to Lucy's mouth, and dinner was as unsatisfying as breakfast and lunch had been.

That night, barely an hour before Lucy would've retired for the evening, Scarlet intruded upon her careful studying once again. This time, Lucy noticed her friend approaching out of the corner of her eye, and closed the book before it could be slammed shut on her fingers.

Again, Scarlet wasted no time with pleasantries. "Come up to the dormitory," she said, pulled lightly on Lucy's arm to get her moving. "We've got some work to do."

"What do you call what I'm doing here?" Lucy mumbled, but followed the taller girl up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. Once inside she regretted it. Scarlet's make-up case was sitting on her bedspread, open and set up, with a small hand mirror laying beside it. Lucy started to pull away slightly as soon as she saw this. Scarlet had experimented on her before, and it had never ended well. While the red lipstick looked amazing on most of the girls, it clashed with something in Lucy's skin tone and made her look, for lack of a better word, 'cheap'.

Feeling Lucy's hesitation, Scarlet held on tighter and said "Stop cringing. I'm not going to force that lipstick on you again. We're going to try something else tonight, and you'll look stunning by the end, I promise." Lucy stopped resisting, partly out of curiosity, partly out of exhaustion. This must have been part of Scarlet's plan as she had starved Lucy over the course of the day: to make her too tired to resist when Scarlet sprung this on her. It had worked. Lucy sat down on the bed, defeated.

Scarlet rummaged through the box and pulled out a few tubes of lipstick, a few palettes of other cosmetics that Lucy couldn't identify, and some eyeliner. Scarlet tested each tube of lipstick on the back of her hand, holding it up next to Lucy's face. She settled on one and put it aside, then did the same thing with the unidentified palettes which turned out to be eye-shadow and blush. When she had put her choices aside, Scarlet began work on Lucy's face, reprimanding her every so often.

"Could you please stop your eyelids from twitching? This won't come out straight out if you keep moving," she complained, holding onto the side of Lucy's face with one hand to hold her steady. The eye-shadow and blush went on next, then came the lipstick, which felt sticky on Lucy's lips. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, but it was certainly foreign. She had kept her eyes closed through the whole procedure, not really wanting to know what was happening. When Scarlet had finished she held the mirror in front of Lucy's face, and commanded her to open her eyes.

Lucy opened her eyes and nearly gasped, before biting it back. There was no reason to encourage Scarlet. Her eyes looked huge, though, and she went to touch the area around them before Scarlet, for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, smacked her hand away.

"Hands off. I don't want you ruining it. This is what I'll be helping you do every morning until I can trust you to do it by yourself."

At this Lucy snapped out of her half-reverie and gave Scarlet a withering glance. "What do you mean 'until I can trust you to do it by yourself'? I'm not thirteen Scarlet, I know how to take care of myself."

"Then prove it," Scarlet said dismissively, closing up the box. "If you can manage it tomorrow then I'll leave you alone. But I wasn't about to let you go on your date with Riddle without at least looking presentable."

Lucy stood up quickly. "First, it's not a date. Secondly, I already looked presentable. And thirdly, won't he notice if I show up suddenly looking this nice?" She patted her hair, which Scarlet had also fixed up.

Scarlet turned away and placed the box back on top of the bureau, brushing a bit of dust off. "He won't notice, I'm certain. Men never notice tiny things like this. He'll think you look beautiful, but he won't know why."

At this moment, Thelma wandered in and stopped short. She whistled. "Wow, Lucy, you look nice. Are you going to be doing that from now on?"

Before Lucy had the chance to reply, Scarlet cut in. "Yes she is. Doesn't she just look gorgeous, Thelma? I think the liner really brings out her eyes." The two girls continued to chatter about the new make-over while Lucy surreptitiously moved over to her own bed and reopened the book that she had thankfully remembered to bring with her. She would have to take this stuff off her face before she went to bed, but for now she'd wait for Scarlet to cool down before she got up and scrubbed herself off. The next morning she'd fix herself up perfectly (despite the fact that her meeting with Tom Riddle was the day after the next) and show Scarlet that she could handle herself. Honestly, it was like having her mother there, if not worse.


	3. Chapter Three

_Hopefully this chapter answers some questions. In response to one that I can't answer in the story, I'll just tell you this: I've been writing a back story (that will never see the light of day; it's for my own use) in addition to this. Due to this story being in a limited third person point of view, you'll never see directly into Riddle's head, except when I find ways to drop hints. Remember that Riddle exemplifies the qualities of the Slytherin house – that's the only hint I can give you._

**Chapter Three**

Wednesday evening came too quickly for Lucy. As the days had passed she had grown more ashamed of her previous behavior toward Riddle and more anxious about the upcoming meeting. She promised herself that she'd learn from her former stupidity and keep her mouth more tightly sealed. There was no reason to be nervous, as she had taken care to set up this tutoring session with her best subject. Though, even in her best subject she was certain that Riddle's ability far exceeded hers. It was her acting that would really be put to the test.

She would have to ruin a few attempts at spells from the class. Perhaps she could pretend to misunderstand the use of the Fidelius Charm, or set something ablaze while attempting the Flame-Freezing Charm. She could even sabotage her own patronus and pretend to throw her wand down on the floor in frustration – or would that be going too far? This would be much less worrisome if she could consult Scarlet, but her friend was off with her newest boyfriend and couldn't be expected back until late that night.

When the clock struck 6:45 she shoved the Charms textbook into her book bag and checked her face and hair in the mirror, hastily shoving a few more pins into her hair. She considered putting on her nice black shoes with heels but decided against it, not knowing whether or not she could trust Scarlet's advice about how oblivious he'd likely be about such things. Lucy couldn't shake the feeling that he caught much more than he let on, and she didn't want to risk appearing desperate. The lipstick that she still wasn't accustomed to was bad enough. She slid on her regular black shoes and buckled them before heading out of the dormitory toward the library.

Etta caught her on the way out, stepping in front of her before she had the chance to escape the common room.

"Where are you going, Luce?" she asked, standing squarely in the way of the exit. Lucy looked around her at the door.

"I've got a tutoring session in the library," she told the other girl, craning her neck in a gesture that she hoped conveyed how much she would prefer not to be having this discussion. Etta stared at her for another moment before clapping her hands over her mouth and squealing. The sound made Lucy simultaneously want to shove Etta aside and run for the door, and clap her own hands over her ears. She settled for the latter, but Etta wasn't done.

"Oh, that's right! You're going for that little study-date, aren't you? Scarlet told us all about it. I just think it's so funny!" she rocked on her feet as Lucy gave her a look that would've sent a smarter witch fleeing up to her room with proverbial tail between her legs.

"I'm not sure I follow you," Lucy replied slowly, "but I'm going to be late if I don't get to the library soon. Do you mind?"

"Oh, no, go enjoy your time with your lover, darling!"

"Oh, for Merlin's _sake_! He held the door open for me _once!_ Would you and Scarlet just drop it?" Lucy snapped and pushed past.

So Etta knew about this. That meant that Thelma and Mina knew, as well. She was going to kill Scarlet for this. The girl had made it sound like this bet was going to be a secret. The last thing she needed was for the other three girls to find out.

It was bad enough that Scarlet had been holding Lucy to this new "diet". She felt like she was about to fall over anytime from hunger. Her hollow stomach throbbed and she rubbed it absentmindedly, stopping when a few other Slytherins glanced in her direction. Remembering that she was supposed to be somewhere, she checked her watch. Five minutes to seven. She bolted out the door and down the winding hallways of Hogwarts, taking the stairs up from the dungeons two at a time in her haste.

She skidded into the library several minutes later and paused to catch her breath while she searched out Riddle. He was sitting at a table far from the entrance, half hidden by a shelf and a stack of books. She dropped into the chair more heavily than necessary, and uttered in a low voice:

"I'm so sorry I'm late. One of my friends came in at the last minute and wanted to talk."

Riddle shook his head. "It's fine. I've studying of my own to do, as you can see." He gestured to the thick book that lay on the table in front of him. She didn't recognize the book, but he looked to be nearly through with it. The small words swam before her eyes for a moment and she put her head in her hand for a moment, holding in a groan. Her stomach felt like it was caving in. There was no conceivable way she'd be able to keep this up, it was killing her. A mouse's rations were all well and good for Scarlet, but Lucy wasn't quite the beanpole her best friend was. She lowered her hand and stared at the table for a moment, gathering her wits which had temporarily scattered, though she couldn't tell whether that was caused by the hunger or the presence of the Head Boy across the table.

Riddle gave her a look of mild concern. "Are you all right?"

She forced her eyes off the table and blinked a few times to clear her head. "Yes, I'm fine," she replied. "I'm just a bit tired. My friend has had me on this new regimen, and I've got a bit less energy than usual."

"Your friend controls what you eat?" he asked, sounding amused. Lucy chuckled darkly.

"That's Scarlet. But she means well, she really does. She just doesn't understand that some people have different needs than she does." She leaned back and looked at him. He was sitting back in his hair, a bit of a smile left over from his previous expression, but otherwise his face was unreadable. He was staring at her in a way that made her want to squirm in her seat, but she kept still. "So," she replied weakly, "I've become worried about my marks in Charms. That's why I've asked for your help. I can't afford anything less than an 'Exceeds Expectations' on my N.E.W.T.S. at the end of the year."

"Where would you like to start?" he asked, marking his place in the book on the table, and shutting it with the back cover facing up and the spine angled toward himself. If she found this strange, Lucy chose not to comment.

"Well, I was having trouble in class today with that – what was it? – oh, the Patronus Charm. I know we learned it in Defense Against the Dark Arts and we were just reviewing, but I'm still having trouble. All I could make was some strange smoke. It was rather embarrassing, with everyone's animals flying around the classroom." She fished her wand out of her pocket and laid it on the tabletop. He looked at it for a moment, instead of at her. She was grateful; she worried that her lie was too transparent. Her patronus had been flying around the room with the others, but she hoped that in the flurry of silvery movement he hadn't been able to connect it to her.

"Why don't you show me what happens when you try?" he suggested. "If I know where you're starting from I'll be more able to help."

Lucy nodded and fished through her memory for a lukewarm memory, finally settling upon the time she had gone dress shopping with her mother and the older woman had praised her for fitting into a particularly lovely dress, not realizing that her daughter had requested a size higher than what her mother had originally asked for. Concentrating, she pictured herself in the mirror with her mother's hands on her shoulders and uttered the incantation barely loudly enough. There were limitations to working in the library, but Lucy felt certain that arranging a meeting in an empty classroom would've been pushing her luck.

A wisp of shining grey light escaped from the tip of her wand then hovered near the tabletop for a few seconds before dissolving. Riddle nodded at her effort. "That was a good try, but it looks like you need to try harder for a memory to concentrate on when performing the charm. It took me a few tries before I found one – are you certain that you've found one strong enough?"

"Well—" Lucy stalled. "I thought it was, but if you think that's the problem then it probably isn't strong enough. I can try again with something else." She moved on to a slightly better memory, in which she and her father had traveled to the coast to enjoy a vacation while her mother sunned herself on the beach. Lucy, who had been around six at the time, and her father had walked in and out of the shallow pools on the shore looking for shells. This memory brought forth the beginnings of a shape from Lucy's wand, but she let it evaporated before it could fully form. Riddle nodded again.

"Try again. Something just a bit stronger this time, you almost had it."

Lucy pulled up the memory she normally used and uttered the incantation, and immediately a solid silver shape emerged from her wand's tip. The form of a goose flew a few yards away from the table before she made it dissolve before it could draw any attention. Riddle smiled.

"That worked. What did you choose?"

"Oh, I thought about the time Scarlet and I visited Hogsmeade. We had a wonderful time, it was during winter three years ago and the snow was beautiful." This was a lie. While they had visited Hogsmeade in the snow three years ago, the trip had ended less than pleasantly when Thelma, who had just joined their group, had decided to run off after some Hufflepuff boy, leaving Scarlet in a very bad mood. Lucy had ended up having to remind her friend that she couldn't expect too much from the silly fourth year girl yet, but Scarlet's moodiness had weighed on the entire trip.

Her lie must not have shown on her face, because Riddle, who was looking right at her, nodded.

"Good, keep it up. Now that you've found a memory that works for you, you can practice on your own time."

Lucy smiled at him. "Thank you. You've helped so much. I didn't think I'd _ever_ manage to make a real patronus. Can we meet again next Wednesday? I'm sure there will be something else to work on by that time – many things, if I'm unlucky."

He nodded again. "That would be fine."

Silence descended upon them for a few seconds before the sound of a clock striking in the distance caused Lucy to look down at the watch she kept in her bag.

"It's getting late," she said. "I should probably get back to the dormitory and finish up the rest of my work." She stood and pushed her book back into her bag. It had been sitting on the table, though she hadn't opened it. To her surprise, he stood as well.

"I should be getting back as well," he explained, taking the book he had been reading before and holding it on his arm, back cover side still facing outward. "I'll walk with you, if you don't mind."

"Oh, of course."

The walk back was silent, as neither of them seemed to want to volunteer any new information. Lucy felt distinctly uncomfortable, but Riddle seemed oblivious and he kept his gaze ahead. Lucy vaguely wondered why he was heading back in the direction of the Slytherin common room, because he must've had other duties to attend to as Head Boy She dismissed the idea that he was just following her, however, and decided that he must've been going back to get something, or something like that. There was some other reason he was going instead of heading off directly.

As they entered the common room, no eerie silence descended upon it as Lucy had been foolishly dreading. However, Scarlet, who had been sitting in a chair near the fire, looked up and flashed Lucy a smile that plainly said _'I knew it would go well'_ and closed her book. Lucy excused herself and walked over in the direction of her friend, knowing it was better to talk sooner than later, while Riddle proceeded to the boys' dormitory, presumably to pick something up. She felt stupid for even suspecting that he was just following her, and decided not to mention it to Scarlet.

Once Riddle had disappeared through the doorway, Scarlet patted a chair next to her in a gesture for Lucy to sit. Lucy obliged and swung her legs over the side, as was her custom. The fire had warmed the chair and she sank down into the warm fabric happily. During this, Scarlet had continued to stare at her with mild impatience. Lucy noticed this and considered taking her time, but decided it wasn't worth it. She settled in quickly then turned to meet her friend's stare.

"How did it go?" Scarlet prompted, leaning forward against one elbow. Lucy thought for a moment.

"Well, I pretended that I couldn't manage a Patronus Charm, and he prodded me along until I made one. I gave it a few missed tries before finally doing it right. It seemed like he believed that I couldn't do it."

"Did he notice your new look?"

"Oh, _Merlin_, Scarlet. I don't know. I don't think so."

Scarlet frowned slightly. "He was meant to notice, otherwise why would I have bothered?"

"I thought you said he wasn't meant to notice."

"I meant _consciously_," Scarlet signed, exasperated. "He ought to think that you look nice, I was certain that you'd be able to tell if he did."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't tell," Lucy responded, beginning to be rather frustrated herself. "I'm not _you_. Perhaps you'd have more luck than me in this. You'd be able to charm him in a second."

"Yes," Scarlet mused, "but then what would be the point?"

Lucy slid out of the chair. "I can't believe you sometimes, Scarlet," she muttered.

"Where are you going?"

"To bed," Lucy replied. "I'm tired, and I feel like I'm about to faint thanks to you - snatching all the food off of my plate today, honestly. Good _night_."

As she stomped through the door to the girls' dormitory, she knew she was acting immature. Her eyes were slits and her mouth was tight. On the way to the door she passed Riddle, who was coming out from the boys' dormitories, but she didn't look at him. She could feel Scarlet's eyes on the back of her head, but she still didn't turn around to look at her friend. It had been a long enough night.

_Reviews make me update faster…and since I only have through chapter 4 written, I could use the encouragement lest I run out of steam before another Riddle-filled chapter. Help me out? You know what to do!_


	4. Chapter Four

_This is the last of the chapters that I wrote before even publishing the story. I haven't finished the chapter after this yet, and I've barely had time to think about the ones after it. So updates might be a bit further apart from now on, depending on how much time and inspiration I have. _

_Thank you to my reviewers. You are definitely a part of my inspiration, and you really brighten my day._

**Chapter Four**

The next morning, Lucy woke with a pounding headache, not lessened by Thelma's deafening snores coming from her right. Weak sunlight streamed into the room as she dragged herself out of bed and into the bathrooms to shower and brush her teeth. She considered skipping the make-up routine for the morning, but she didn't feel like dealing with Scarlet's displeasure. Sometimes it was just easier to follow along. Besides, the last thing she wanted was Scarlet anywhere near her eyes with the eyeliner pencil again. It had been frightening enough the first time; she had been certain that she would to lose an eye.

Scarlet sashayed into the bathroom as Lucy was finishing with the lipstick and considering flushing it down a toilet to avoid the hassle the next day. It was so marginally different from her own natural color that she didn't know why she bothered. The throbbing headache had centered itself above her eyes, and Scarlet's usual cheerful disposition in the mornings did nothing to help.

"Good morning," Scarlet chirped. She looked as fresh as she had when she had gone to bed the night before. Lucy, despite feeling utterly drained by the events of the day had still been awake, forcing her way through the Potions textbook yet again in an effort to make the formulas and effects of each potion stick in her subconscious. There was a quiz today that she had forgotten about until late last night, and she didn't feel nearly prepared. The stress of it was enough to make her want to cry.

"So when is your next tutoring session?" Scarlet asked, styling her hair with a twirl of her wand. This question was her way of letting Lucy know that she had forgiven the outburst the night before.

"Next Wednesday," Lucy replied tersely, snapping the top back on the lipstick and shoving it in her bag. Scarlet may have forgiven her outburst, but Lucy hadn't quite forgiven Scarlet. "I'm going down to eat breakfast earlier so I can study a bit more before Potions today." _And so I can eat a decent meal for the first time in three days,_ she added silently to herself, heading out the door. She picked up her things and headed for the Great Hall.

The Great Hall, which had only just begun serving breakfast for the morning, was nearly empty. A few yawning students who were also studying textbooks were scattered around the room. Lucy helped herself to a tiny bit of everything, not wanting to overeat after her stomach had likely shrunk to the size of a walnut. She could see Riddle farther down the table out of the corner of her eye, and she thought she could see him glancing at her. She looked in his direction, and saw that he was. He gave her what might have been a miniscule smile and turned back to a piece of parchment he had on the table in front of him. She was glad that he was busy; it was too early in the morning to pretend to be the sweet but hopeless student she had been the night before.

By the time potions began, Lucy's headache had lessened to a dull throb – mostly likely, she thought, thanks to the actual food she'd been able to eat. Scarlet took her seat next to Lucy just as Slughorn began writing questions out on the board at the front of the room.

"Oh, no!" she uttered. "I forgot we had a quiz today."

"Well don't copy off me," Lucy muttered. "I don't except I'll remember much of it and he'll get suspicious if we get the same wrong answers."

Despite this warning, Scarlet _did_ end up cheating off her. Lucy tried to prevent her by putting an arm around the piece of parchment, but to no avail. Scarlet had at least four or five inches on her, and she peered over Lucy's arm easily. Lucy pulled away a few inches in a vain attempt to conceal her work, but she didn't want to look too obvious, as Slughorn was pacing the classroom and looking over people's shoulders.

"Stop that," she hissed at Scarlet. "He'll see."

"I'll see what, Miss Greenwall?" came a voice from behind them. Lucy dropped her quill.

"Nothing, professor." She swallowed as he looked over their shoulders at both of their papers.

"You both know that there is a penalty for cheating in this class," Slughorn said softly. "Detention for both of you, this Saturday at seven. I'm very disappointed. Especially in you, Miss Doyle. Your homework is always so well-written." He stepped back. "Now, if you'll remove yourself to opposite sides of the room and continue the quiz, I will be counting the questions that you have already answered as incorrect." He leaned forward and, with Lucy's dropped quill, wrote a line under the work they had done and scribbled something next to it. The two girls took their parchment and quills and scattered. Scarlet moved a few seats down to the back right corner, while Lucy was forced to relocate to the very front left, her eyes stinging.

She looked down at the quiz and nearly started crying. Two-thirds down the page Slughorn had written "no credit" next to the line. She had finished two-thirds of the quiz, and had probably gotten a fair amount of it right, after all that studying. Now it was all for nothing, thanks to Scarlet's cheating. On top of that, they had detention. Her headache came back full force and she scribbled answers to the remaining questions as best she could while blinking back tears of shame.

As soon as class was over, she bolted out the door and toward the Slytherin common room before Scarlet had a chance to catch her and complain about the detention. She no longer felt like crying, which was a blessing, but now she felt like smacking the next person who looked at her strangely. Just as she was nearing the common room she was stopped short by a figure in front of her. She looked up into the eyes of Tom Riddle, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

Taking a deep breath so she wouldn't say something she'd regret, she asked as politely as she could: "Do you need something?"

He looked at her for a moment. "I wanted to ask if next Wednesday you'd like to meet in the empty Charms classroom rather than the library for tutoring. If you'll be performing spells it'd be best if we were in a classroom, as the library is meant for reading."

She nodded in agreement. "Yes, yes. Good idea. I'll meet you there then. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm headed back to the dormitory to try to get some sleep before my next class. Good-bye." She was aware that she sounded a bit snappish, but after that morning all she could think of was curling up back in bed and pretending that the day was over. She could skip lunch, having been filled up by the breakfast she had eaten, and as long as she was up in time for Transfiguration that afternoon she could pretend that the morning had never happened.

At least until Saturday.

Waking up early that afternoon, Lucy felt much better. She didn't share Transfiguration with Scarlet, a fact that significantly improved her mood. Scarlet had dropped the course the previous year after Professor Dumbledore had noticed that her essays read a lot like those of one other student: a particularly gifted Slytherin boy by the name of Elias Hyde. Hyde had been Scarlet's boyfriend for the month she had been in that class, though he would never have been called good-looking by even the kindest Hufflepuff. After she had quit transfiguration, she had stopped speaking to him completely, leaving him more of an outcast than he had been before.

Secretly, Lucy had been using him for help ever since Scarlet had cast him off, but she didn't plan on letting it go quite as far as Scarlet had. He was very useful when one needed answers and explanations, although he had refused to let her copy off his homework after the fiasco with Scarlet.

Elias Hyde was who she now sat next to during Transfiguration. They could never have been called friends, but they were certainly acquaintances. He was always polite, and usually willing to pull more than his own weight during assignments. She had learned a few tricks from Scarlet, and by batting her eyelashes and unbuttoning the top few buttons of her uniform's blouse she ensured that he'd never refuse to help her – provided that what he was doing wasn't against the rules. He had learned his lesson. Besides, it wasn't like he couldn't afford to spend a little extra time helping Lucy understand the lesson; he understood everything the first time it was explained and received some of the highest marks of the year.

Today, though, as she asked for him to explain a point Professor Dumbledore had made during the lesson about Conjuration he leaned away from her and asked "Didn't you get caught cheating this morning? I don't want to get in any trouble." Lucy sighed and pulled back a strand of hair that was coming loose. She lowered her chin and gave him a look.

"It wasn't my fault; Scarlet was trying to copy my potions quiz. I told her to stop, but you _know_ how she is. Besides, this isn't cheating, I just asked you to clarify something for me. That isn't against the rules." Elias looked at her skeptically for a moment while she continued to stare at him. Finally, he caved and shook his head.

"Fine, but if I get in trouble for anything then I'll be certain that Professor Dumbledore knows it was entirely your fault."

"Fine, but like I said, this isn't against the rules." Lucy was rapidly becoming annoyed at his hesitancy. He didn't usually have any qualms about helping her during this class, in fact he usually seemed quite proud of himself when he did. All of this fuss because Scarlet had gotten her in trouble?

Saturday came quickly. Lucy had been hardly speaking to Scarlet over the past few days, and Scarlet didn't seem to have noticed. She had conversed often and animatedly with Thelma, Mina and Etta and had nearly ignored her best friend. Lucy was bothered by this, though she didn't let it show. The two of them showing up for detention Saturday night – Scarlet from the girls' dormitory, Lucy from the library for a change – was the first time they had been together alone in two days.

Scarlet greeted her with a courteous 'hello' and Lucy nodded and forced a smile. When they entered Slughorn's office, they stood several feet apart. He set them to work scrubbing out the extra cauldrons by hand, after giving them magical gloves to protect against the possible ill-effects of leftover ingredients or potions.

The first hour and a half of the detention was silent except for the scraping of the scrub-brushes against the insides of the cauldrons. Scarlet and Lucy worked at opposite ends of the classroom, though each of them was paying attention to the behaviors and movements of the other. Lucy was struck by how Scarlet had been acting. It had occurred to her that Scarlet was treating her like any other acquaintance – polite, but cold. Though, she thought, her behavior was hardly better. She had been ignoring Scarlet as much as she could without drawing attention to the fact. She hadn't forgotten that she didn't have any other friends, and the last thing she wanted was to be ostracized for angering the queen of the Slytherin seventh years. She didn't really want to lose her best friend of six years, either, but she wasn't quite ready to forgive her for what she had done.

Over the course of the detention, they had worked their way closer to each other. Finally, they were close enough to each other that not communicating was impossible. "Are you going to do that one?" Scarlet asked, gesturing to the last cauldron that was between the two of them.

"Huh? Oh, yes," Lucy responded, feigning disinterest. Although, she wasn't sure it mattered, when they had already scrubbed at least twenty-five cauldrons each. Lucy's arms had started to go numb at least half an hour ago. She suspected that Scarlet was even worse off, not having ever done hard work in her life. Lucy wasn't much better, but surely she'd done more with herself than 'princess' Scarlet.

"Great. Thanks," Scarlet said, and dropped her own brush and the counter before walking out. Lucy was left dumbfounded. She had guessed that Scarlet was annoyed with her as well, but to just walk out like that and leave Lucy to not only finish up the last cauldron but to put everything away? It was ruder than Scarlet usually would've ever been. Even at her coldest, she was nearly always polite. This obviously didn't extend to settings in which there were no witnesses.

Once the surprise had passed, Lucy was left angrier than before. What right did Scarlet have to be angry with her? Lucy had warned her not to copy off of her paper, and she had ignored that warning.

Readjusting the scrub brush in her hand, Lucy violently scrubbed out the last cauldron. It had some sort of greenish goo on the inside of it that had dried and hardened to nearly diamond-toughness. She pounded it with the handle of the brush, and bits of it flew up and hit her on the arm where she had rolled her sleeve up, leaving ugly red marks that stung painfully. She swore and pulled her arm out of the small cauldron, seething. At this point she, too, was close to getting up and leaving this whole detention thing behind her. However, it would do no good to have Professor Slughorn angry with her when she was already doing so abominably in Potions class.

She set the brush down on the countertop with a bang and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down before heading to Professor Slughorn's office. She knocked quietly on the door.

"Professor?"

"Come in!" his voice called from inside, and she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"Professor, I'm working on the last cauldron, and I can't seem to get it clean." He nodded and followed her into the classroom, where he cleaned the last cauldron with a wave of his wand. She thanked him and made to leave. Before she could get out of the door, he stopped her and asked:

"Where has Miss Doyle gone?"

A bolt of inspiration hit Lucy like lightning.

"Oh," she replied casually. "Scarlet left quite a while ago."

Lucy strode out of the room with a satisfied smirk on her face that Slughorn didn't see.

_Reviews will make me write the next chapter faster!_


	5. Chapter Five

_A huge, enormous, gigantic and colossal thank you to all my reviewers. I appreciate it when people take the time to give me feedback on my writing. In fact, it's one of the main reasons I'm on this site – along with ideas that won't leave me alone._

_That said, this chapter took quite a while to write. The first half has been done for a while, but the end took a lot more effort and thought than I had anticipated. You also are indirectly introduced to another character somewhere in the middle. You'll hear more about her later. I hope you like the chapter._

**Chapter Five**

As time passed, Lucy got closer and closer to throwing her pride to the ground and asking Scarlet for her forgiveness. She still didn't believe that there was any reason to apologize, but the next tutoring session was drawing closer and Lucy didn't like her chances without Scarlet's counsel. Though, for all she knew, the bet was suspended.

Strangely, it now seemed more like she was following through for her own sake, and not for the sake of her (former) best friend's petty bet. She had noticed something during the last tutoring session that she didn't want to admit to herself: Riddle was handsome, and she liked being around him, even if it meant making something of an idiot of herself. And she was definitely making an idiot of herself.

The morning of her next tutoring session began with rain. It hammered at the windows and ruined the moods of Hogwarts students of all houses. As they collectively stumbled through the day, a general feeling of despair hung heavy over them. That was the way the weather was – once the real rain began, it didn't end until the following summer. The only respites were the days when they would wake up to find Hogwarts blanketed in a layer of frost.

The real problem with rain, Lucy thought, was that you couldn't pack it together and throw it at people. She could use the stress relief that came with throwing snowballs at people. And if a block of ice happened to hit Scarlet straight in her perfect face – well, Lucy, for one, wouldn't complain.

Despite the gloominess of the other students, the day seemed to fly by. Lucy had become accustomed to working on her own in classes that she had usually spent gossiping with Scarlet. What she almost found amusing – in a twisted way – was the fact that her former friend still sat next to her in many classes. It almost hurt more that Scarlet, despite her close proximity to Lucy, could completely ignore her in favor of whichever girl sat in the other direction. The other girl was usually so astounded that the 'princess' of the 7th year would deign to speak with her that she agreed with everything Scarlet said and bobbed her head like some kind of toy.

The positive side to the situation, Lucy reminded herself, as she was once again tempted to send bits of parchment and quill feathers whizzing into Scarlet's new protégé's open mouth, was that she was doing much better in her classes. Within a few days of actually listening to the lessons the professors were teaching, she found that she could follow the topic, and her notes turned into coherent ideas, rather than words scribbled at random that said things like "red…frog…counter-curse..." These had been her Defence Against the Dark Arts notes the previous week. This week she had included nearly everything in an attempt to ignore the giggling coming from beside her - including Professor Merrythought's numerous tangents.

By the time class had ended, Lucy was feeling quite confident about her notes. If she kept this up, she could probably cut her study time in half and still ace the N.E.W.T. She was shuffling the parchment bits she had written on into a stack that would fit into her bag, when there was a cracking noise. A split second later, a deluge of black ink had swept over her notes, staining them and engulfing the neat letters she had spent the entire class constructing with utmost care.

"Oopsie!" she heard Scarlet's voice say, with a giggle. "Sorry about that, my ink spilled." Then, without another word, she turned and left the room, leaving Lucy staring dumbfounded at her once perfect notes.

By the time Lucy had reached the Charms classroom, her bewilderment about what had happened had turned into burning rage, then had cooled into a simmering anger. All the same, she had to restrain herself from banishing a very heavy miniature statue they were supposed to be charming right into the back of Scarlet's head. Scarlet had moved to a seat across the classroom. Perhaps she sensed that she had crossed some sort of a line – after all, she had irreparably ruined an entire class's hard work. It wasn't like Lucy could just charm the ink out of the parchment without removing the ink for the notes themselves. She would be left with the blank parchment she had started with. It was infuriating.

Lucy growled aloud, and the witch next to her looked in her direction before scooting away slightly. Lucy didn't notice, as she was concentrating hard on not accidentally creating any disasters in her anger. She had already left a dent in a suit of armor as she had passed it in the hall on her way to Charms – and she hadn't been within three feet of the armor when it happened. When she looked up, she caught Riddle's eye for a moment across the classroom. He held eye contact for a moment before she broke it off to continue prodding at the small statue of what looked to be a Chimaera. Riddle continued staring.

When the class ended, Lucy still hadn't succeeded in charming her miniature. It stood as motionlessly as it always had on its flat base. She had meant to charm it to walk off its pedestal and pace around. The charms professor had offered bonus points if the creatures had acted the part of their real-life counterparts. Instead of receiving full credit as she usually did, Lucy was stuck with a figurine of a Chimaera that was still firmly attached to its base. She laughed bitterly, further frightening the girl to her left. At least this time she wouldn't have to _pretend_ to be doing terribly in Charms during the tutoring session. Packing up her things, Lucy stormed out of the room, glad that her classes were over for the day. If she had to sit in the same room as that tramp for another class period, her wand would probably slip up and cause some real damage.

Thankfully, when she arrived, the dormitory was deserted. Lucy tossed her books onto the floor beside her bed where they lay, pages bent, on the rug. She pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill from her bag and grabbed one of the hard-covered books off the floor. She set the book and the parchment down on her bedspread, pulled the curtains around her, and began to write.

_Dear Ada,_

_Sorry I haven't written in so long. School's been busy here. It's probably been busy for you, as well. What are they teaching you over there in Durmstrang? It's probably more interesting than what we've been learning._

_As much as I hate to admit it, I'm probably only writing to you because I haven't been able to really talk to someone all week. My friend Scarlet – you know, the perfect one? – has stopped speaking to me, because we both got in trouble when she cheated off me. She probably would've gotten over it, but I got her in worse trouble for leaving detention early. I shouldn't have, but I don't really regret it, even if she still isn't speaking to me._

_Even though it's taken the loss of my best friend for me to write to you, I really do miss you. It seems like I haven't seen you in forever. It's been years at least. When are you coming to visit?_

_Write back soon, I'm dying of loneliness._

_Yours,_

_Lucy_

_P.S.: Send my love to the family._

Whistling, she folded up the piece of parchment and sealed it with a bit of wax she had swiped from Scarlet's bureau. A trip to the Owlery was exactly what she needed after the day, and if it wasn't too cold she could take a short walk around the grounds. She could sit and watch the giant squid, which usually came up to the surface of the lake during the first big rainstorm of the season.

Her mood was improved significantly by the time she reached the Owlery, and by the time the school owl had soared out the window and into the grey sky, she felt positively cheerful. On her way back, she stood at the edge of the lake for a few minutes and watched the giant squid hover several yards away in the murky water, occasionally causing ripples by lifting one of its heavy tentacles out of the water to swat at a passing bird.

Dinner was delicious, as if to make up for the horrible weather of the day. Much of the food was warm, and the student body cheered up considerably. Lucy was still sitting much on her own, having abandoned any idea of sitting next to Scarlet and her posse. She even managed to make some scattered conversation with some of the other girls who often sat alone at the edge of the table. The tutoring session that evening was always in the back of her mind, though, and she had to make a conscious effort not to turn and look in Riddle's direction, lest he catch her looking.

Lucy excused herself from the group at dinner around 6:15, to give herself time to prepare for the study session ahead. Now that Scarlet was not speaking to her, Lucy wasn't entirely certain what her plans for this were. All she knew was that she wanted these sessions to continue – for her own sake, not for Scarlet's. There was no harm in knowing more people, she thought, even if these tutoring sessions hardly made her and Riddle friends. All the same, maybe she should fix her hair up a bit, it was looking a bit lank after the trip outside in the wind, and it wouldn't do to show up to the appointment looking like this. It would be disrespectful. Lucy ignored the little voice in the back of her head that murmured something about an ulterior motive.

This time, unlike the previous week, Lucy was early. When she arrived in the Charms classroom, Riddle was nowhere in sight. The classroom was deserted, and in its empty state it was eerily huge. After checking the silver watch she had received as a birthday present years ago from Scarlet (who had said that it still wasn't likely to make her more punctual), Lucy slid onto a chair in the far corner in a room and pulled out a book. She had pulled _Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration_ from the library earlier, judging it to be a fairly thick and impressive-looking book. Of course, she hadn't read any of it, but it _was_ very advanced-looking, and she wanted to give Riddle the impression that she was quite intelligent, just lacking in this _one_ tiny subject.

She had only just opened the book and skimmed a few lines before the door swung open and Riddle strode in. Lucy hesitated a moment before closing the book and standing, ready to move to a table further down the wall. However, in the time it had taken her to stand, Riddle had flicked his wand and the table, along with one of the few cushioned chairs in the room, had soared toward Lucy and settled themselves in front of her. He gave another wave and the door shut behind him. Lucy, who was standing with her mouth hanging open slightly, half expected him to fly over to the table as well. Instead, he walked over casually and sat down directly in front of her, glancing at the book she was still holding. He raised an eyebrow and smirked, though in Lucy's slightly astonished state she took it as more of a grin, and thus misinterpreted his tone when he finally spoke.

"_Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration,_" he read off the cover. "A very useful book. Have you read it before?"

Lucy pulled her mouth shut abruptly and shook her head. Some of her good sense was flooding back, although she was still somewhat confused at seeing a student her own age perform nonverbal feats her own parents had never quite mastered. Not that they hadn't tried – Lucy had a scar from a fork her mother had tried to send in her direction one evening as they had been eating. The fork hadn't quite stopped in time, and her mother had justified the action by saying that Lucy had been eating like an animal and she deserved the punishment for her bad manners.

"Oh, I'm just looking over it…I heard there were some interesting…theories, and I wanted to see if any of them would be helpful in class," Lucy stammered referring to the Transfiguration book and hoping that the response didn't sound as stupid to him as it had in her mind. He merely nodded, and leaned both his arms on the table.

"So would you like to work on animation charms? I noticed you were having trouble during today's class, though next time you might try asking for help from your neighbors, rather than frightening them away." He seemed amused, and Lucy grimaced at the thought of the day's class.

"I know, but that wasn't entirely my fault. I was distracted by something Scarlet did, and I was having a hard enough time not hexing her from across the room. That girl next to me noticed, did she?"

"I believe she moved away from you significantly over the course of the class," Riddle replied, still amused. Suddenly, his tone changed. "But what were you distracted about?"

At this moment, Lucy's inner-voice, which had been dormant during her moment of stupidity, came swooping back. "Is that really important?" she demanded, surprised at the forcefulness of her words. Riddle looked taken aback for a split second, before he came up with an answer.

"If you're having trouble stayed focused, if might be helpful to solve the problem that's distracting you," he stated. His answer was logical, but something about it still bothered Lucy. She stared him down for a moment while she considered his motives, then gave in with a sigh.

"I'm sure you haven't noticed, but Scarlet and I haven't exactly been getting on recently. We had a bit of a disagreement, and I believe I may have exacerbated things during our detention." She bent over and started to put the transfiguration book back in her bag while she spoke, avoiding eye contact.

"She was copying your answers in potions, wasn't she?" This question came seemingly from nowhere, and it startled Lucy so that she nearly dropped her wand, which she had been fishing out of the side pocket of her bag. For a moment she didn't understand how he would know this, and then she realized.

"Of course. You're in that class, too."

"I was sitting in the front row." He was amused, leaning forward with his chin in his hand. He looked for a moment much younger than he really was, and Lucy could feel her guard slipping at the look on his face. He was grinning at her, and as much as it perturbed her, she couldn't help but notice that his smile was crooked. On anyone else, it could detract from their appearance, but on him it was oddly endearing. She fleetingly wondered if many other people had noticed this trait.

Unbeknownst to her, she had been gaping at him for a good ten seconds before her frazzled brain could form a coherent response. Riddle realized this, and his grin stretched as he watched her struggle to regain her grasp of the English language. He didn't often smile at anyone.

"But that is why you were in detention, isn't it?" he prompted.

"Well, yes." She replied, annoyed at him for diverting her attention like that. Though, she reasoned, it was hardly his fault. Nonetheless, she couldn't but feel a bit irritated. She must've been going insane if she was letting the subject of the (former) bet manipulate her like that. She was the one who was meant to be doing the manipulating, even if the bet was most likely off.

"If you must know," she continued, "I lied and told Slughorn that Scarlet left detention much earlier than she actually did – though in my defense, she made it easy by leaving early and forcing me to clean out the last, and worst, cauldron." She pulled up her left shirtsleeve a few inches to expose a patch of skin that was covered in tiny pink marks with a green-tinged border around them. "I've still got the marks from some of the potion I had to try to chip off the side of the last one."

Before she had time to withdraw her arm and roll her sleeve back down he had grabbed her hand, pinching her palm between his forefinger and thumb. He pulled her arm toward him and examined her wrist. Her body stiffened, though he didn't appear to notice. When he finally released her hand a moment later, she pulled it quickly back and set both of her arms on her lap.

"You should really get that looked at. It looks like Tentacula Juice," he commented, leaning back in his own chair and looking downwards at her, a grin still visible on his face. She stared back at him blankly.

"Like _what_?"

"Poison," he clarified. "Nothing too terrible, but you may want to get it removed." There was obvious sarcasm in his voice, but she didn't notice. When she still didn't respond, he kept going.

"You ought to go to the Hospital Wing for that. We'll meet again next week. Before we do, try to get your problems sorted out – I don't want to be tutoring you if you're going to be distracted. I don't like to feel like I'm wasting my time." He rose from the chair, and sent both it and the table back to their original place with a wave of his wand. His eyes didn't leave hers. "Apologize to your friend if you must, but I want you focused next week, and not looking so dismal."

With those final words, he left the room, leaving Lucy confused, once again. She sat there stupidly for a moment before she too rose and left the room, bound for the Hospital Wing. Maybe she should get those splotches looked at.

_Leave me a review? Let me know how you liked the scene with Riddle. I'm still figuring out the tone of this story, and I'd appreciate your feedback._


	6. Chapter Six

_I wrote this all in one afternoon, and I'm kind of impressed with myself. Many thanks to Charley Bates for proofreading it before I put it up, to save me the time and trouble that comes with fixing it once it's been published already._

_Even more thanks to my reviewers. You've been wonderful, encouraging and very helpful._

**Chapter Six**

Lucy wasn't used to apologizing. It was in her nature to avoid confrontation in any possible situation, and she had very little experience in making amends. This apology that she would inevitably have to make to Scarlet caused her more stress than it really should have caused – after all, the two girls had only gone a week and a half without speaking. However, Lucy wouldn't put it past Scarlet to completely ignore her apology, and she didn't want to grovel. So she stalled, trying to figure out the least embarrassing course of action. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like there would be a painless way to apologize. Scarlet's pride had been injured, and anyone who knew Scarlet knew that she wasn't someone you wanted to offend. Lucy mentally cursed herself again for her hotheaded actions and swore that she'd quit standing up for herself in stupid situations. It caused nothing but trouble.

Her opportunity finally came the following Sunday at breakfast. Mina and Etta were both sick, and Thelma – as lazy as she was – was probably going to lie around in bed until at least noon. Scarlet set off late for breakfast, while Lucy followed silently behind her, waiting for the right moment to approach. She received some strange looks from people in the corridors and felt vaguely embarrassed. This shouldn't even have to happen. It wouldn't be this difficult if Scarlet weren't so hopelessly conceited. But she couldn't have these thoughts now. She was about to make up with her best friend, and it wouldn't help to criticize her mentally. That was counterproductive.

The walk up to the Great Hall from the common room seemed much longer than usual, and Lucy was anxious during the walk that Scarlet would turn around and confront her. Her worries were for nothing, though. Scarlet didn't even glance at Lucy. Lucy seized the opportunity to sit down next to Scarlet at the Slytherin table. It was her usual seat before the fight, and for the last week and a half it had been occupied by Thelma. Lucy was at first affronted that _Thelma_ of all people had taken her place, but she eventually stopped caring when she noticed that the quality of the conversation seemed to have slipped drastically after she had left. Scarlet hadn't looked quite as content with Thelma sitting next to her, and Lucy had felt a kind of vindictive pleasure at the discontented look that had often flashed across her former friend's face whenever Thelma had interrupted the conversation to say something silly and pointless.

Lucy helped herself to some of the toast and jam from the spread in front of her, before glancing over to look for something that she could use to strike up a conversation with Scarlet. There was a jar of honey a few feet away in Scarlet's direction, and although Lucy didn't usually put honey on toast, she figured today was a good day to start.

"Pass the honey, please."

Scarlet grabbed the honey and set it near Lucy with a clunk. She didn't speak a word or turn her head in the slightest. At least the silence was broken. Now Lucy knew that Scarlet was in a bit of a foul mood, but for her sake she hoped it was from Thelma's bad company and not anger from the previous week.

The silence swooped back and stretched on for a few minutes as Lucy awkwardly tried to spread the jam and honey on her toast without accidentally brushing Scarlet with her elbow. She had purposely sat next to Scarlet rather than in front, hoping that the lack of eye contact would make the moment less difficult. Instead, it was making things uncomfortable. She needed to get this over with.

She cleared her throat, and before she could talk herself out of it, she blurted out: "I'm sorry about last week." Scarlet didn't reply right away, but she stopped eating. Lucy took this as her cue to continue.

"I shouldn't have told Slughorn that you left detention early. It was petty and stupid of me. I regret doing it." She swallowed and then proceeded to lie. "I'm sorry that I let Slughorn catch us cheating." She wasn't sorry about this, but it would be better to take back everything Scarlet was angry about, lest it come up later. There was another pause, then Scarlet set down her fork.

"I forgive you."

Lucy, who hadn't been expecting a full apology from her friend, was still disappointed. She hid it the best she could, but it probably still showed on her face. "Great," she replied, trying not to let the sarcasm seep into her voice. Her upper lip curled involuntarily and she was glad that Scarlet hadn't yet deigned to look at her.

Suddenly, Scarlet asked something that surprised Lucy.

"So how have your 'sessions' with Riddle been going?" she asked casually, as though they hadn't been in the middle of a fight just five minutes previously. Though, Lucy rationalized, it was very much like Scarlet to act like it hadn't ever happened. This way there was no reason for her to return the apology.

"How did you know I've still been going?" she asked suspiciously. She had surprised herself when she kept going to the tutoring sessions despite the bet (and the friendship) being suspended. How would Scarlet know that she had kept going?

Scarlet laughed lightly and finally turned to Lucy. "Of course you've still been going." Her tone was haughty, but it was offset by the first real smile Lucy had seen from her in days. This was the real reason Scarlet was so difficult to hate. No matter how often she did something wrong, people still found themselves happy to be on her good side, if only to see the smile that lit up her features when she was pleased.

"Yeah, you're right," Lucy sighed. "I did still go. Though don't ask me why; I couldn't tell you."

"He is a handsome boy, isn't he?" Scarlet commented, and Lucy giggled. Her annoyance was rapidly slipping away and she found herself glad to be once again in her friend's good graces. This was indisputably better than sitting by herself at the end of the Slytherin table. "How did the last 'tutoring session' go, though?" Scarlet asked.

Lucy quickly recounted what had happened, repeating verbatim what she could remember. As she told her friend all about it, she realized that very little tutoring had actually happened during what was meant to be a serious study session. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about this yet. Did Riddle do this intentionally? Lucy was never quite aware enough when she was around him to realize that he had yet to teach her a thing.

"You pretended to read some book?" Scarlet repeated after Lucy had told her about the beginning. "He didn't realize that you were just faking it, did he? Imagine how embarrassing that would be."

Lucy frowned slightly. "Well, I don't think he noticed. I was smart enough to say that I hadn't read it before, after all. So it wasn't as though he was going to start questioning me on it, or anything." Scarlet nodded sagely.

"That's probably a good idea. What else did you talk about, if you weren't studying?"

"Well, actually we did talk a bit about…what was happening with you and me," Lucy said, not able to bring herself to use the words 'fight' or 'argument'. "I told him about the detention, showed him where I got some dried potion on my arm. He grabbed my hand when he looked at it and told me that I should probably get it checked out. Apparently it was Tentacula Juice –"

Scarlet held up a hand. "Wait, wait. Stop. You said he grabbed your hand?"

"Well, yeah, I guess, when he was looking at my arm. I had pointed it out –"

Scarlet gave a noise that sounded like a suppressed squeal of delight. "Oh, great! Lucy, you know what this means, don't you?"

"No?" Lucy answered dazedly. This was turning into one of those conversations where she wouldn't be allowed to finish a single sentence. Scarlet was about to become really condescending, she was sure. There was always a progression to these conversations.

Scarlet snorted. "Oh, you're such an idiot sometimes." (There it was). "He must like you if he was looking for an excuse to touch you, even if it was just your hand."

"He was looking at where I spilled potion on me. It was hardly romantic. My arm was all blotchy and disgusting-looking. Besides, why would he like me? Despite all this 'tutoring,' I've still barely spoken to him." This whole situation made no sense in her mind. She had been really looking forward to getting Scarlet's input on what had happened, but this information was really making her think twice about whether it had been a good idea to reveal all of this. Scarlet was obviously making a bigger deal out of it than it had been. She hadn't even been there; it was obvious that Riddle wasn't interested. He had even left early. That was hardly how a man acted when he was interested.

"You're being stupid, but I guess I can't change your mind," Scarlet sighed. "We'll just have to wait for the next time and hope that it'll convince you. Oh, it's too bad I can't just go with you and watch." She tapped her fingernails impatiently against the table.

"I think he might notice if you did," Lucy responded dryly.

"Well, you still seem to think that _talking_ is what's important in attraction," Scarlet pointed out. "You really don't understand these things. Talking isn't even part of it."

"Great, I'll just use my dashing good looks to seduce him. Thanks for the advice." Lucy knew she was getting sarcastic, but Scarlet was being impossible. It was great for her to talk about attracting men by simply existing. That was what Scarlet did. She had natural beauty and magnetism that Lucy couldn't imitate no matter how many beautification charms she cast upon herself.

Scarlet frowned. "Don't be like that. It doesn't suit you, and it's not ladylike. Be sure to be a bit more obvious next time you meet with him, though. It's always better to show more interest than you really feel. Otherwise, how will he know to reciprocate? Remember: 'In nine cases out of ten, a woman had better show _more_ affection than she feels.'"

"Did you steal that from a novel?" Lucy asked skeptically.

"I may have," Scarlet replied, standing up. "I'm going back to the common room."

"Fine. I'll be right up," Lucy said with a cheek full of food as she shoved the rest of her toast into her mouth. Scarlet gave an exasperated sigh but didn't say anything as she turned and headed out the door. Lucy sat for a few moments in silence, considering what she had just been told. Somehow, showering Riddle with false affection didn't feel like the way to go. Scarlet might be able to do it, but on someone like Lucy it would probably just appear needy.

She was lost in thought when a dark brown owl swooped in and nearly ran into her. She shrieked and toppled backward off the bench, whacking her head on the hard floor and seeing stars for a moment. The owl sat on the table and started picking at breadcrumbs off her plate while she pulled herself up off the floor, rubbing her head furiously. She yanked the letter off its leg and shooed it away while she ripped the seal open and skimmed the opening of the letter.

Finally, a reply from her cousin. She read it over quickly at the table.

_Dear Luce,_

_Things here aren't as exciting as you'd hope. Although, last week a couple of girls got in a duel in the middle of the hallway, and one of them hexed the other so badly that she was in the infirmary for three days with an extra arm and leg that kept growing back when they were transfigured away. _

_It's too bad that your friend is being so awful. I guess that's what family is for, though I'd really appreciate it if you wrote me a bit more often. It's not fun waiting for you to get in fights with your friend just so you'll write to me. Durmstrang isn't as interesting as you'd think it would be. _

_I'll talk to my parents to see if I can come visit you this summer. In the meantime, try to write me back? It's been months since your last letter, not counting the one you just sent. You're really bad at correspondence, you know._

_Ada_

Lucy frowned. She could definitely feel her cousin's annoyance. Even through the letter, it was obvious. That settled it, she was going right back down to the dormitory to reply. Then Ada wouldn't have anything to complain about.

She knew that life wasn't too easy for her family back east. The family name was now associated with some rather unsavory things that had been happening, and Ada was bearing the brunt of this shame while she was at school. Lucy's parents had changed their last name when they had moved to England six years before Lucy was born, and so Lucy luckily escaped any bad associations. Not even Scarlet knew her family's origin, and she wanted to keep it that way.

When she reached the dormitory she pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill and sat down to write out a reply. The words flowed from her quill without much thought.

_Dear Ada,_

_I'm writing this immediately after receiving your letter – so don't tell me that I never write back fast enough. _

_Durmstrang doesn't sound that boring. We don't get many hallway duels here at Hogwarts. When they do happen they usually get stopped before anything interesting can happen. It's pretty disappointing. The last time something interesting happened was when one of the Gryffindors hexed this third year boy so he had tentacles sprouting from all over. It was disgusting. _

_Scarlet finally came around, but I had to apologize to her. Of course, she was an absolute snob about it, but I'll admit that I missed her advice. She gives good advice when it comes to men. I'd be even more hopeless than I am now without her. _

_You'd better talk to your parents. I miss talking to you face-to-face. This whole writing thing takes far too long._

_Lucy_

She rolled up the parchment and sealed it. If she headed straight for the Owlery, she could probably get back before Scarlet was even back from whatever detour she had taken to be this late getting back.

Hopping off the bed, Lucy headed off in the direction of the Owlery with her arms swinging back and forth and her steps bouncing. It had been a good morning. Maybe today was going to be a lucky day.

_I'm going to do something I haven't done in any of the previous chapters. I'll give you a short preview of what's coming next, and hopefully it'll encourage you all to review._

_So without further ado:_

**Preview**

"_Sweet mother of Morgan le Fay, Riddle. Where did you come from?" Lucy gasped, clutching her chest as she caught her breath. He stared down at her with one eyebrow raised. _

"_You're hardly the only one to use the school's owls," he replied, holding up a piece of parchment with a black seal on it. The imprint on the wax looked suspiciously like a skull, but she didn't dare look closer._

_See you next chapter._


	7. Chapter Seven

_This next chapter is much girlier. Charley [another author on this joint account, for those of you who don't know] was kind enough to tell me that I ought to write chick lit for a living. Good to know. _

_Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this. I've been told that it's good._

_Side note: I'm planning on publishing the prologue to a Tom Riddle/Ginny Weasley sort of story soon after this chapter is posted. If you're interested and you're old enough to read it (it will be M rated), please take a look._

**Chapter Seven**

The Owlery was deserted when Lucy arrived. Most of the owls appeared to be asleep, and the brown spotted owl she chose to deliver her letter gave her a most disgruntled look as she attached the parchment to its leg, waking it up. She remembered just in time that the letter had yet to be addressed, and grabbed the owl by one of the hind legs as it was preparing to take off. He wheeled around and bit her on the finger impatiently, clearly wanting to either take off or go back to sleep. She shook her hand and returned the owl's annoyed look, immediately feeling foolish for making faces at a creature that obviously wasn't intelligent enough to tell what she meant.

She gently grabbed the owl above the wings and set him down on a perch. With a stern "Wait here for a minute!" she turned to the corner of the Owlery where some students had left old quills and ink for people who had last minute additions. She grabbed an old quill made out of what looked to be a large and faded pheasant feather, dipped it in a pot of lumpy black ink and scribbled her cousin's first and last name on the side of the parchment. She nudged the owl toward the window, saying "Off you go," and dropped the quill back in the corner. The owl hooted disdainfully, but soared out the window and headed east. Lucy spun around and was about to head toward the door when a towering figure standing immediately behind her stopped her short.

"Sweet mother of Morgan le Fay, Riddle," she gasped. She clutched at her heaving chest, emphasizing the shock she had just received. "What are you doing here?"

He stared down at her with one eyebrow raised. "You're hardly the only one to use the school's owls." He held up a piece of parchment with a black seal. The imprint, when she gave it a quick glance, looked a bit like a skull, though she didn't dare inspect it closer. Not while he was watching.

He stepped closer, and it occurred to her once again that he was much taller than her. For a brief moment she wished she were Scarlet, who would've been nearly as tall as Riddle. No wonder her friend was never intimidated by men – it was much harder to feel belittled by them if you could look them in the eye. It was much more difficult to be confident when one could only stare at their collarbone.

Her pulse, which had just begun to slow down from her previous shock, began to speed back up when she realized that the two of them were standing less than a foot apart. She could smell him, and with a jolt she realized that he smelled nothing like the boys that Scarlet usually brought around. Scarlet's beaus were usually the sweaty, smelly Quidditch-playing type. For the moment, Lucy was too caught up in her thoughts to even consider moving, or to notice that Riddle was looking at her curiously.

He cleared his throat and she jumped slightly then stepped to the side to let him pass. Once they were no longer standing face-to-face (or face-to-chest, as it worked out,) Lucy was able to sort her thoughts back into order. She sincerely hoped that the pause had only taken a few seconds, as it had felt much longer.

It was Scarlet's fault for planting these thoughts in her head. Lucy'd had complete control over the situation until Scarlet had informed her that Riddle liked her. Now she was imagining that his actions meant much more than they did. He had wanted to get past her; he hadn't been trying to get closer. She needed to stop overanalyzing the things he did. That was the kind of thing Thelma did, and sweet Circe knew that she didn't want to start acting like _Thelma_.

Shaking her head, Lucy headed for the door. Before she left, she could help turning around one last time. Riddle was just finishing with his owl and sending it out the window. He turned to leave as well, and she realized that it would look strange if he caught her staring at him. She'd have to say something.

"I'll see you Wednesday," she blurted, then turned tail and hurried down the stairs as quietly as she could, taking them two at a time. With luck, he wouldn't see her hurrying away. It probably didn't reflect well on her that she was running away from him, even if he couldn't know her motives. _Hopefully not_, she thought.

When she was halfway down to the Slytherin room, she collided with Scarlet, who was on her way out. Scarlet, who was never ungraceful, managed to stay standing still, while Lucy was pushed back a few feet and nearly into a wall. Her cheek stung where she'd hit it on Scarlet's bony shoulder, and she rubbed it a few times for good measure and to try to decrease the red mark that was surely forming there.

"Where've you been?" Scarlet asked, rubbing her shoulder lightly with her thumb.

"In the Owlery, sending a letter," Lucy answered, wincing when her cheek burned as she moved her mouth. "I was about to ask you the same thing. Why weren't you in the dormitory before? You left before I did."

Scarlet dismissed her with a wave. "I had some things to take care of."

Lucy looked at her skeptically, but decided against challenging her friend. Scarlet would tell her when she was ready. There was no point in trying to force it out of her; Scarlet never revealed anything that she didn't want to reveal. It was one of the reasons she was both a good friend and a formidable enemy.

"Fine. I'm going to go back to the dormitory. I'll probably still be there when you get back, assuming Thelma hasn't woken up yet."

Scarlet laughed. "You really shouldn't be so rude. Thelma's a lovely girl, and she adores you."

"I never said she wasn't, and she adores everyone," Lucy replied cheekily, waving her fingers in a weak imitation of Scarlet's habitual gesture before leaving. If Scarlet was going to be secretive like this, then there wasn't any point in hanging around. They'd see each other later, and Lucy could tell Scarlet what had happened in the Owlery. She was half-hoping that her friend would make a bigger deal out of it than it really had been. She wanted to think that the electricity of the moment hadn't just been a figment of her imagination.

By the time Scarlet returned to the dormitory, however, Lucy had convinced herself that it wasn't the best idea to relay every detail of what had happened that morning in the Owlery. She had spent the time sitting on her bed, listening to Mina and Etta sleep through the afternoon and reading a book. Contrary to her usual tendencies, she had borrowed a rather daunting book from the library and was trying to force her way through the first few chapters. After finally giving up twenty pages in, she sat back against the numerous pillows in her bed and gave some serious thought to what had happened in the Owlery. It hadn't been a long meeting, but Lucy, like most girls, could think about an encounter with a boy for longer than it had actually taken.

The first thing she did was compare him to every boy that Scarlet had ever dated – at least, the ones she could remember. There had been a long line of them since their second year. Scarlet had started dating fourth-years by the time she was thirteen, having developed early. Each one of them that Lucy could remember had been tall, generally handsome, and decidedly bland. The obvious exception that came to mind was Elias from her Transfiguration class, who was actually not a bad person to be around. It was a shame that Scarlet had dumped him once she didn't need his help anymore. It wasn't one of her finer moments, in Lucy's opinion.

Riddle surpassed all of these former beaus, as far as Lucy could see. For one thing, he had the ability to think for himself. She couldn't see him being bossed around by anyone, even Scarlet. Though, the two of them had yet to meet, to her knowledge. One part of Lucy was curious about how they would interact if the two of them ever met, and the other part of her that was beginning to feel faintly protective of him wasn't sure that they should ever meet.

A thought suddenly struck Lucy. She'd been lying on the bed for quite a while, according to the watch she had left on the bedside table. She'd been comparing Riddle to Scarlet's former men. But what exactly was it about that morning that had prompted her to think of Riddle as hers? Lucy found that she had no answer to this, only a vague feeling of unease about the whole thing. Chance encounters aside, she'd only spoken to him a handful of times. Despite Scarlet's extreme speculation, their interactions had been tepid at best – if one ignored the fact that he had touched her hand, which she was willing to brush aside. He had just been trying to get a look at her disgusting, potion-stained arm. Seeing romance in that was just being delusional.

As uncertain as she was about this whole ordeal, Lucy still didn't feel like telling Scarlet the details of what had happened up in the Owlery. It couldn't be that important, and Lucy didn't want her friend making a bigger deal out of it than it had been.

Lucy and Scarlet, after they had put the argument behind them, remained nearly inseparable for the next few days. Scarlet tried to analyze and then reanalyze the tutoring sessions, looking for more hints as to what Riddle was thinking during them. Lucy kept her meeting (if it could be called that) in the Owlery secret, but didn't argue with any of Scarlet's deductions about events of the tutoring meetings. Some of the conclusions her friend drew seemed ridiculous, but she didn't have the willpower to argue aloud. When she disagreed, she kept it to herself.

Thelma, upon realizing that Lucy and Scarlet had reconciled at last, seemed put out rather than happy. Lucy could see why. Now that she was back, Thelma had lost her temporary spot as Scarlet's right-hand girl. Mina and Etta, once they had recovered, welcomed her back with open arms, and their group returned to the way it had been before the fight. Lucy had, as a precaution, taken Scarlet aside and warned her not to go telling the other three all the intimate details of the bet and the meetings. She didn't need the jibing from the other girls. Unfortunately, Scarlet wasn't always known for her discretion within the group, and Lucy was certain that the other three would know most of the story so far within days. This, she reflected, might've been another reason she'd decided not to tell Scarlet everything that was happening.

When she finally set off for the deserted Charms classroom that night, Lucy felt fully prepared at last for this tutoring session. She had stopped dwelling on their chance meeting in the Owlery, and Scarlet had left her with some nearly useful words of advice for once. "Just act friendly toward him, without seeming overeager. You're really a wonderful person to be around, and he should see that." Of course, this advice had come at the end of a long string of counsel that included such gems as "Lean forward, and leave some of the buttons of your blouse undone," and "You can borrow my nice black shoes. They'll make you at least five inches taller." The last piece of advice had been a moot point. Even if Lucy were the type who could wear five-inch heels without tripping over her own feet, Scarlet's feet were noticeably bigger than her own.

The Charms classroom was once again empty when she reached it. She was only five minutes early this time, but she didn't try to pretend to read a book this time. She had the impression that Riddle had seen through her ruse, and so she contented herself with checking her nails and trying to straighten out her stockings, which had slipped down slightly on the walk to the classroom. She had her hand halfway up her thigh, under her skirt when Riddle walked in. She froze and, letting the stocking go where she had been pulling it, yanked her hand out from underneath her skirt. She smoothed the pleats of the skirt down as daintily as she could, avoiding his eyes, while he looked at her with one eyebrow raised. His gaze traveled between her legs and her face, which was now turning even redder on the spot she'd whacked a few days ago on Scarlet's shoulder. There was now a pinkish bruise that looked like a permanent one-sided blush on one cheek. The real blush that finally made it to Lucy's face certainly didn't help matters.

Riddle moved the table over, this time with his wand. She noticed that he didn't attempt to do it wandlessly this time, and she couldn't help but wonder why. Maybe he was having an off day. It was possible. The other alternative was that he had noticed her surprise last time, and had decided against repeating himself. This didn't seem likely to her, as she doubted he paid that much attention to her reactions.

By the time he had sat down opposite her at the table, the one-sided blush had begun to fade from her cheek, leaving it a dull pink that throbbed slightly when she smiled lopsidedly at him. She hoped that she didn't look like too much of an idiot with her crooked face. To her surprise, he returned the smile slightly. He had only grinned at her a handful of times throughout their few meetings, and usually it had a streak of what she now could identify as condescension. This smile seemed much more genuine than any she had seen from him before; she found herself wondering what she could've done to provoke it, and, more importantly, how she could do it more often in the future.

Before the silence could stretch on too long, she decided to speak. She banished all silly thoughts from her head relating to the previous Sunday morning, and tried to ignore the awareness of his dark eyes staring straight into hers. This was no time to start acting like Thelma. That kind of idiocy was best confined to when she was lazing around the dormitory.

"I've taken your advice and made peace with Scarlet." She didn't dare break eye contact, but instead tilted her head slightly in a way that she hoped hid her bad cheek from view. She tried to put a nonchalant smile on her face, without it turning into a grimace that she could feel it becoming at the sting that ricocheted through the side of her face at the movement. She must not have succeeded, because his eyebrows knitted slightly and he reached forward toward her. Before she could pull back instinctively, he had one hand under her chin and was tilting her head toward him. Her bruised cheek flamed red again and her heart sped up again. She prayed to Circe that he couldn't feel her pulse. After all, his hand was right on her neck.

"What happened to your face?" It was a blunt question. It could've even been insensitive if it'd been said in another tone. But the way he said it seemed almost concerned and out of habit she quirked the side of her mouth ironically.

"Ran into Scarlet. She's too tall for her own good, and her shoulders are much too bony. My face didn't stand a chance." It felt like someone else was using her mouth. She was capable of holding her own in most speaking situations, but in this case her mouth was running away with her. She hoped that she could trust it in that case, and that it wouldn't end up being a repeat of the first day she'd spoken to him in the Great Hall. That had been the last time her mouth had run away with her in front of him. She masked a quick intake of breath as his thumb grazed the pink skin of her cheek.

He held her chin for a few seconds then released it before speaking again. "You do seem to have a knack for harming yourself."

"Only recently." She nearly smacked herself when she heard these words leave her mouth. It was really time to get some control over her own words. "What I meant to say, this isn't the usual thing for me. I'm no Scarlet, but I'm not exactly clumsy."

"Indeed," he responded simply and leaned back in his chair. She copied this gesture subconsciously. It was a moment before he spoke again.

"I've decided that if I'm going to be helpful during these meetings that I need to know something about you. So tell me about yourself."

"Well, my best friend is Scarlet Doyle, as you know, and I also spend a lot of time with Thelma, Mina –"

He interrupted her. "I didn't ask about your friends. I'd like to hear about _you_. Or, if you prefer to talk about other people, you can start with your family. Who are your parents?"

"My father and mother don't really work. They've never really needed to; they've been living off the family fortune. They moved from further east a few years before I was born, and changed their name to blend in better. They're both purebloods, I believe."

"You've still got family back east, then?" he prompted. "Where in the east?"

"Oh, I don't know," Lucy responded, a bit irritated by the question. "They've never been very specific about it. I've got a cousin who goes to Durmstrang, though. I was sending a letter to her when I saw you in the Owlery. She complains that I don't write enough."

He smiled again. "Durmstrang must be interesting. I've often wondered what the curriculum is like there."

"Well," Lucy began, glad that she had diverted the subject from herself. She didn't consider herself interesting enough to drone on about for any length of time, "according to Ada, it isn't as interesting as it sounds. They definitely learn a lot more Dark Magic there, and there's a fair bit of hexing going on in the corridors, by the sound of it. She insists that it's boring, though. I can't judge; I've never been there."

There was a lull in the conversation. As it grew, Lucy tried desperately to think of something to say, but her wit had deserted her. She settled for returning his question.

"What's your family like, then?"

He grinned again, but this time there was a different expression behind it. "I haven't got any family actually, not any more. But my mother was from a very long pureblood line, I know that much." He seemed almost like he was bragging, and Lucy wasn't sure she really cared for it. This conversation had taken a very strange turn.

"That's…good…?" she remarked cautiously.

"Yes, I believe she was distantly related to a very famous wizard," he added. "Do you have anyone like that in your family?"

Lucy was now distinctly uncomfortable. "My parents don't really like to talk about it," she answered as honestly as she could. There were some things that she really didn't want to bring up, especially with this conversation turning out this way. Boasting about bloodlines had never been a favorite pastime of hers. Again, she searched for a new subject.

"Should we get to the tutoring, then?" she asked. His grin disappeared, and she instantly regretted changing the topic.

"Actually," he started, "I was thinking we might reconsider this tutoring. I'm not sure that you really need my help; you seemed to be doing fine in charms today." She was about to protest that the day had just been an exception to the norm, that she was really quite terrible at charms, but that even dunces were bound to have a good day. He stopped her by continuing. "Not," he added, "that I think we should stop these meetings. I've enjoyed them. And if you have any questions in the future – about any subject – I'll be able to help."

A wide smile broke across Lucy's face before she had time to think about the painful repercussions, and she winced. The smile stayed, though, until he added one last thought. "Perhaps you could use some help with potions."

_At this point, Riddle knows a little something that you, the audience, don't. You'll find out later. _

_As always, please review._


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